William Nylander at Center? It Looks Like the Maple Leafs Will at Least Try It
The Maple Leafs want to give William Nylander a bit more responsibility this season, but becoming an everyday center may not be necessary for a team deep in that position.
GRAVENHURST, Ont. — It’s getting to that time of year where training camp has been divided between the haves and the have nots.
When the Toronto Maple Leafs took the ice for practice on Tuesday, the extra forwards who didn’t appear to factor into the team’s top-12 were given gray ‘extra’ jerseys.
Everything about the line rushes suggested the likely roster for the club when they visit the Montreal Canadiens next week to open the regular season.
There was just one wrinkle.
William Nylander was skating as a center, something he hasn’t done with regularity since his time with the Toronto Marlies during the 2015-16 season.
“He’s done it before and I think he has the ability to,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said of Nylander up the middle.
Keefe cautioned not to read too much into the lines on Tuesday and mentioned that Nylander’s spot there may be a bit of a placeholder for John Tavares, who remains out with an oblique injury.
But it does sound like the Maple Leafs will go ahead and try Nylander in the middle for one of the team’s final two pre-season games coming up against the Detroit Red Wings.
“I think it’s important for Willy to get some reps through the camp because he does play center there at times,” Keefe said.
Even if playing at center isn’t part of any long-term plan, the Maple Leafs could rely on Nylander to add to his game this season by building off some things he worked on last year.
The Leafs used him on the penalty kill quite a bit during the 2021-22 season, particularly in the first two months when Ilya Mikheyev was out with a broken thumb.
Nylander finished last season with a career-high average of 18 seconds per game on the PK, destroying his previous high of two seconds.
Nylander practiced taking faceoffs on the penalty kill while in the defensive zone on Tuesday. The Swede is a right-handed faceoff man who can sub in just for the draw, a role that used to be occupied by Jason Spezza until he retired this summer.
“We’re wanting to see if we can grow his usage on the penalty kill,” Keefe said of Nylander. “Willy, through his career when called upon, has been a good right-handed faceoff option.”
Nylander has had five consecutive seasons of finishing 50 percent or better in the faceoff circle, although he’s been limited to just 88 total faceoffs over the last two seasons.
The Maple Leafs have lofty expectations for this season and Toronto’s core players are going to be counted on to take their game to another level.
Auston Matthews is looking to build off his Hart Trophy-winning season by improving his 200-foot game.
Mitch Marner has been asked to try his hand at times on defense for certain situations.
Now it’s Nylander’s turn to find another dimension in his game. It’s probably not at center, but it’ll be an interesting experiment, even if it is just for one game.
“I like playing center and wing,” Nylander said. “There no one (of the two positions) I prefer really.”